One couple told the ECHO their booking had been taken over the phone at around 4pm but when they arrived at 6.30pm they were unable to get in.

Another woman said: “We rang up earlier and they were happy to book us in but we got here and it’s all shut.

“The lights are on and it looks like there are staff still in there but no-one came to the door to tell us what’s happened. It’s really disappointing.”

A member of staff who said she had just started work told the ECHO the restaurant was closed.

Red Hot World Buffet and Bar in Liverpool One has closed unexpectedly for maintenance work.

And a man who came to the phone and said he was the restaurant manager also confirmed they had shut but did not give a reason why.

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said: “During a routine inspection there were several areas of concern in terms of hygiene and general cleanliness.

“We informed the operators and they voluntarily offered to shut the premises.

“They are carrying out a deep clean and once this has been completed environmental health officers will return to the premises and carry out another inspection.”

Red Hot World Buffet was founded in 2004 by husband and wife team Parmjit and Helen Dhaliwal.

It now has seven large restaurants across the UK, including the Liverpool One retail centre, Manchester, Leicester, Milton Keynes and Cardiff, and employs 600 people with a turnover of £22m.

The buffet restaurant group serves English, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Tex-Mex and Japanese dishes, among others.

The restaurant’s website boasts it has “something for everyone”, adding: “Each Red Hot World Buffet restaurant has a unique atmosphere that provides a dining experience unlike any other and you can enjoy your visit in your own way.

“Food is prepared at live cooking stations by specially trained chefs that only use fresh ingredients. The hardest part is choosing from such a huge variety of tempting treats.”

The restaurant has become a firm favourite with city diners since it opened just before Christmas 2009 – becoming one of the first restaurants in the Liverpool One complex to open its doors.

It is currently ranked 540 out of 1162 restaurants in Liverpool on review website TripAdvisor.

After being contacted by the ECHO, the group tweeted: “We have a maintenance issue which has sadly led us to closing this evening. Whilst we wait for it to be sorted our team are keeping busy cleaning.”